Application of Mercury Porosimetry in Pore Structure Characterization

Zhiye Gao and Qinhong Hu
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Texas at Arlington

Porosimetry is the measurements of pore size, volume, distribution, density, and other characteristics of a material. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) has been used in a variety of porous media, including oil/gas reservoir rocks and construction materials, This work is to extend the conventional information from porosimitry, and derive several important pore structure parameters (such as permeability, tortuosity, and conductivity formation factor) from the collected MIP data. The characteristic of pore structure can affect the gas/oil recovery rate significantly, while total porosity could indicate the potential oil/gas storage. We have performed MIP analyses on several samples, including Barnett Shale samples from different depths and difference size fractions, sandstones, and building materials, (concrete, limestone, and brick) Results(both conventional porosimetry and pore structure information) and comparison with literature values will be presented. Considering the difficulty in measuring the permeability of tight rocks like shale, our results are comparable with permeability data in the literature.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90152©2012 AAPG Southwest Section Meeting, Fort Worth, Texas, 19-22 May 2012